Bilge pump

[thierr...@earthlink.net]

Curlew has a Jabsco diaphragm bilge pump that sits on a shelf in the cockpit locker. The advantage of this pump is that it is self priming and does not have to live in the bilge itself. It is also very expensive. This pump has failed and needs to be replaced. I am thinking replacing it with a Jabsco Par Max 4, which is also self priming, but is of lower capacity. (I have a secondary high capacity bilge pump in the bilge). Does anybody have suggestions for a self priming pump that lifts up at least 8'?

Thierry
CR 42#12 CURLEW
Baltimore, MD

Sent from my Verizon Wireless Phone

[NC]

Thierry,
What failed on the pump? I have a 34600 and would be interested in what went on it. I've replaced a few parts on my over time, diaphragms, surge tank, valves, base assembly etc., most of it I consider routine maintenance considering the use it gets. It's been reliable and they are very easy to work on, but as you mentioned they are a bit pricey.

Nick
CR 38 #190 RONIN

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[Richard Joiner]

Me too. I've replaced (or rigged) the diaphragms several times in the past
six years. The diaphragm falls apart from the metal thingy. I found that a
brass screw, nut and washer holds up better on the replacement Jabsco
diaphragm

Richard Joiner
CR38 #161
BUIOCHAS

[Richard Joiner]

To be clearer, the rivet holding the diaphragm together is what I replaced
with the brass screw.

Will anyone be traveling on the Chesapeake Bay next week? "Buiochas" and her
crew will be leaving the Potomac on the 1st or 2nd for a week. Planning to
head north towards Annapolis.

[Thierry Danz]

Nick,

One: The surge chamber has a crack. See picture. Must have happened a few years ago. When I tried to get a replacement from Jabsco they sent me a totally different part than the part number on the parts diagram. When I questioned this they told me that they had changed part numbers, and that a replacement surge chamber was no longer available. I thought of fixing it with epoxy, but over time it must have filled up with crud and stopped leaking. Pump still worked OK.

Two: A few day ago the pump stopped pumping. The motor ran OK. When I took it off its shelf, the brass out-port broke off. See picture. The section that broke off is still in the hose. From the color (pink) it looks like electrolysis or galvanic corrosion. Strange though that the in-port looks fine.

Three: The diaphragm has a crack. I suspect that either this caused the failure a few days ago, or the valves are to blame.

Conclusion: Buying replacement parts (including surge chamber if I can get one) probably costs a small fortune, and I wonder if its worth it. Where did you get your parts from?

Thierry
CR42#12 Curlew
Baltimore, MD

[Tom Fuhs]

Here's a good read for some other opinions ( if you haven't already read it ).  Bilge pumps   Eclipse currently has a largish centrifugal pump in the deep bilge sump.  It's plumbed through a non-return flapper valve.  I don't really like it, but it works for now.  My plan is to replace it with a dual system of a diaphragm pump with float switch to take care of day-to-day keeping the bilge dry duties, and a large centrifugal higher  up to deal with emergencies only.  For diaphragms,  I think a single, large, slower pumping diaphragm will be more reliable than the smaller multiple diaphragm pumps.  Seems to me the larger diaphragm is less likely to get "gunked-up".  This looks like a candidate,  Whale  but I have no personal experience with it.  What bilge float switch are you using and are you happy with it?  Reliable?

Tom Fuhs
Eclipse 
CR38 #115
Rock Hall, MD

[NC]

Thierry,
No picture came through but I had a similar issue. I beveled out the crack with a dremel tool and epoxied it. The epoxy held fine and I didn't replace
the chamber for almost a year after receiving the replacement part. I keep the epoxied one for a spare now. In hindsight I could have just as easily
kept using the repaired one. I had the same parts number problem and shopped around on the internet and found one for considerably less than
what Jabsco wanted. I'll be back on the boat in a few days and will try and track down the name of the company for you.

According to one of the Jabsco techs if the belts are adjusted too tightly it will cause an issue, especially under load. Since they have the teeth on them they
don't need to be tightened much at all, I keep mine very loose. He also stated the the pumps are very sensitive to voltage drops and even though they are running they won't work properly.

The inlet and outlet ports can easily be replaced and bonded in with epoxy (according to the tech I spoke to). I had the same issue but, found out about the ease of replacing the ports after I bought the replacement and installed it.
The diaphragms and valves do require close inspection since minute tears are easy to overlook and go undetected. I did the same thing Richard did and beefed up the rivets.
The pumps don't work well under load if there are any air leaks and vertical lift involved. I pretty much rebuilt the pump for about half the cost of a new one which I thought wasn't too bad a deal.

Now knowing the intricacies of the pump and how easy they are to rebuild I guess I'm content with keeping it.

Nick

> <IMG_4215.JPG><IMG_4216.JPG>

[Dave Newberg]

We had some similar problems. Weren't happy with alternatives so
decided to rebuild the Jabsco. Initially I replaced the rivets in the
old diaphragms but got new diaphragms a couple of years ago and will
beef up rivets again if necessary.

Four years ago our inlet and outlet tubes corroded to the point that
they both broke off. When I tried to order the tubes through Jabsco
they would only sell the entire base for lots of $$$$. So I replaced
the brass tubes with thin wall PVC, sealed/glued in place and also
added set screws into the bottom of the base for insurance. Rebuild
kit with new belt and diaphragms, etc. was reasonable. Works great so
far.

Dave
Cigano

>> <IMG_4215.JPG><IMG_4216.JPG>

[Thierry Danz]

Tom:

The float switch is an Ultra UPS-01.with alarm switch. No problems with this switch. Thanks for the link to the Whale. That looks like a good candidate.  About half the capacity of the Jabsco, but big enough for its intended purpose.

Mickey:

I got the pictures on the email that I got back from the list server. Both on my laptop and on my droid phone.

Thierry  

-----Original Message-----
From: Tom Fuhs
Sent: Jun 29, 2012 4:06 PM
To: cabo...@googlegroups.com
Subject: [caborico] Re: Bilge pump

Here's a good read for some other opinions ( if you haven't already read it ).  Bilge pumps   Eclipse currently has a largish centrifugal pump in the deep bilge sump.  It's plumbed through a non-return flapper valve.  I don't really like it, but it works for now.  My plan is to replace it with a dual system of a diaphragm pump with float switch to take care of day-to-day keeping the bilge dry duties, and a large centrifugal higher  up to deal with emergencies only.  For diaphragms,  I think a single, large, slower pumping diaphragm will be more reliable than the smaller multiple diaphragm pumps.  Seems to me the larger diaphragm is less likely to get "gunked-up".  This looks like a candidate,  Whale  but I have no personal experience with it.  What bilge float switch are you using and are you happy with it?  Reliable?

Tom Fuhs
Eclipse 
CR38 #115
Rock Hall, MD

On Friday, June 29, 2012 1:34:04 PM UTC-4, Thierry wrote:

Curlew has a Jabsco diaphragm bilge pump that sits on a shelf in the cockpit locker. The advantage of this pump is that it is self priming and does not have to live in the bilge itself. It is also very expensive. This pump has failed and needs to be replaced. I am thinking replacing it with a Jabsco Par Max 4, which is also self priming, but is of lower capacity. (I have a secondary high capacity bilge pump in the bilge). Does anybody have suggestions for a self priming pump that lifts up at least 8'?

Thierry
CR 42#12 CURLEW
Baltimore, MD

Sent from my Verizon Wireless Phone

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Tom

Thanks for the whale pump reference. Well priced in the USA too.

We use the Jabsco Hydro Air Switch for our bilge switch (Jabsco part no. 59400 - 0012, Defender no. 502456)and are very pleased after a year.

An Ultra Mini with alarm, a couple of Johnson Pump solid states and a handful of Jabsco floats have gone south on us. (So many Canadians retire to Florida and Arizona when something quits working we say it's "gone south") :)

The Jabsco is an easy install and all switch components except a small air bell are out of the bilge water which makes me happy. I replaced the air line in the install kit with some 5 mm (3/16) clear hose which is easier to work with than the cheap stuff Jabsco supplied.

Ten years ago, when the electronics on the Ultra failed, we wired an inexpensive ($2 @ Radio Shack) piezo electric buzzer into the circuit it sounds every time the pump runs. Better than a high water alarm we think because now we know both when the bilge pump is going off and when it is not.

Bob
Meredith

---

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From: Tom Fuhs <tom...@verizon.net>

Sender: cabo...@googlegroups.com

Date: Fri, 29 Jun 2012 13:06:51 -0700 (PDT)

To: <cabo...@googlegroups.com>

ReplyTo: cabo...@googlegroups.com

Subject: [caborico] Re: Bilge pump

[Clay]

I've used this vendor out of Ft. Lauderdale for my Jebsco parts.

http://www.pumpvendor.com/Jabsco_Parts_List.html

Clay
s/v 'Tango'